Bernie Ecclestone, the former boss of Formula One, has been given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to fraud. The court heard how the investigation began when Ecclestone approached HMRC in July 2015 “seeking to a draw a line under investigations into his tax affairs” because he “was fed up of paying huge bills for advice”. Defending Ecclestone, Christine Montgomery said the defendant “bitterly regrets the events that led to this criminal trial”. He continued: “As of July 7 2015, Mr Ecclestone did not know the truth of the position, so was not able to give an answer to the question. “Mr Ecclestone was not entirely clear on how ownership of the accounts in question were structured. “Mr Ecclestone recognises it was wrong to answer the questions he did because it ran the risk that HMRC would not continue to investigate his affairs.

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